The Dragonet Prophecy: Alternate Timeline
by Ianoliano
Summary: Due to a phenomenal event, the continents Pyrrhia and Pantala have drifted very close. The 10 tribes meet, and confusion turns to fear, and fear turns to anger. Now there's a full blown our war, and three queens wants to be the ruler of the queenless Sand Kingdom. The Talons of Peace decide to find the chosen dragonets, but how will the dragonets react when they grow up?
1. Prologue

**This is a WOF Fanfic, and it's an AU. Basically, what if the war was of both Pantalan dragons and Pyrrhia dragons? What if they met? And what if a new prophecy was at hand, with each dragonet having special powers? Sorry if I don't include the original ones, but they are all OCs. Also, just like in my Author's Note, this chapter will not match with the chapters next, until i update them. So anyway.**

_When the war has lasted for twenty years_

_When the world is soaked in blood and tears,_

_The dragonets will come to bring the light_

_On the thrice moon, the brightest night_

_Both Pantalan and Pyrrhian must yield,_

_Or the breath of evil will make all killed._

_Six dragonets, the first of the night_

_Wings of sky claims first birthright_

_The wings of night, in forest trees,_

_Hidden away, with wing of leaves._

_Last egg of the SilkWing queen,_

_Wings of silk lives on unseen._

_Wings of earth search through the mud,_

_The egg a color of dragoned blood._

_Away from the queen of hive,_

_The mountains gives you the wings of hive_

_When the dragonets have come to life_

_The queens of leaves, ice, and hive_

_One may rule but all must yield,_

_Or none of the tribes will survive_

_The dragonets are coming..._

* * *

Nautilus looked through the forests' crevice again. The prophecy had stated that the NightWing egg and LeafWing egg was here. Most of the Talons was searching for it now, checking every leaf, log, and hole. Checking the moons, time was running out. He had to get to the secret cave. Turning around, a glint of shiny emerald, not an ordinary leaf, but an unmistakable shell.

"Gotcha." Nautilus scooped up the egg and launched into the air.

Another voice called out. "I found it!"

* * *

Asha rushed to Cattail's house. She had declined the price earlier, but there was no time to find another one.

The door opened quickly. "Back for the eggs?"

Asha sighed. "Yes. Three cows."

Cattail raised an eyebrow. "I said five before."

"Fine. Four cows then."

"Deal."

Re-entering the hut and exiting, she gave her sister the egg. "Here you go. You better send those cows."

"I will. Thank you, sister."

* * *

Glory checked the mountain crevices, with a small team of Talons. The Hive egg was supposed to be in the Pantalan mountains, but was it supposed to be this hard? It was literally just finding an egg. Granted, she probably could have skimmed over it due to the dark, but that's not the point. Would she make it in time, anyways? It was almost time.

A Talon rushed over to her. "Found it, Glory."

"Thank the moons." Grabbing it, she flew toward the cave quickly. No time to waste.

* * *

Mandrake groaned. He couldn't find Ex-Queen Monarch. The prophecy said that the last egg of hers was the one for the prophecy, but finding it was another problem. But as almost all hope was lost, a flicker to his right caught his attention. It was Queen Monarch. Wait...what was she doing here?

Mandrake spotted an item in her hands. The egg!

* * *

Hawk flew as fast as possible, hoping he didn't attract any guards. His place in the Sky Kingdom would be terminated, as well as his life if he showed up again. Stealing Vermillion's egg wasn't easy, but it was managed, and now they had all 6.

Bounding into the cave, she placed the egg under the sky hole with all the other ones. Glory, Asha, Mandrake, and Hawk waited for the eggs to hatch silently.

And just like the prophecy, the SkyWing egg started to hatch first...

**That's a wrap. Oh, by the way, Hawk is actually an ancient SkyWing prince. And also, in this AU, Pantala and Pyrrhia are right next to each other.**


	2. Under the Mountain

**As said before, this chapter and the one before will not link up to the same as the next chapters. Basically, they won't be in the same timeline. If I have already updated the next two chapters, skip this note.**

**Stardust P.O.V**

Stardust wasn't sure he was a 'hero' type. Oh yes, he wanted to be one. The great NightWing savior and leader of the dragonets, swooping in and saving the day with his awesomeness. He read scrolls about brave dragons who stopped evil, and the more Stardust read these scrolls, the more he imagined himself as the heroes who fought in the stories.

Problem was, he didn't see any opportunity to prove himself as a hero in his real life. He wasn't good at fighting. He preferred reading to attacking, and while he did have mind reading and foresight powers...they weren't particularly useful in one on one battles.

Such as this one, in fact.

"Move faster, Stardust!" The bronze and rust colored SkyWing breathed a small plume of fire, to which Stardust yelped and rolled away. Claws flashed, and Stardust feebly tried to parry them, and instead got whacked in the face. Stumbling back, he held his face.

NightWings were supposedly natural leaders, and as the second born dragonet, Stardust felt responsible for all his younger friends. He didn't feel very 'leaderly', though. Mostly he just tried to teach them history facts, and frustratingly, to no avail.

Stardust warily circled the SkyWing. What should he do next? Should he attack?

_I'll feint to the left, then attack to the right. Or use my tail if Stardust rolls under my wing. _

Acknowledging the thought, Stardust ignored the feint and tried to roll under his wing to attack from below, but unfortunately he rolled the wrong way, and he was smashed to the ground anyway.

"You heard the thoughts, and yet you still couldn't get past? We need to work on your coordination, NightWing." He hissed. _Useless._

"Maybe we could try talking this out instead?" Stardust protested, licking his sore talons.

A familiar hissing noise alerted Stardust, and he jumped into the maze of stalagmites that studded half of the cave. Several of them were smashed, due to ferocious anger of Hawk, but it still proved ample coverage.

"Coward!" The thoughts echoed the voice that Stardust couldn't see. _Real battles won't have hideouts for you to coward in._

Stardust felt indignant. "I'm taking advantage of the landscape! Isn't that a good thing?"

A shower of rocks pelted his scales as Hawk burst into his corner. Fire blasted in all sorts of places, and Stardust hurriedly seized a stalagmite and and scrabbled ontop of it, looking down on his guardian near the roof.

"Come down here and fight like a SkyWing." Hawk hissed. _Not that you'll ever fight as one._

"Can't I fight one of the others?" Stardust asked. "I'm much better at that."

Well, technically, he wasn't the best fighter of them, but they were his own size, and had different fighting styles, so it was definitely more enjoyable fighting them than Hawk.

"I'm sure you'll be able to choose out on the battlefield, so stop yammering and GET DOWN HERE!" Hawk reared up and shot a blast of fire, and Stardust yelped and leapt to the next stalagmite.

And of course, foresight struck. It always felt like a bright white light, and the vision always only lasted a second, but Stardust always saw it clearly. In the white background of the vision, Stardust leapt to the stalagmite...crashed into the side of it accidentally, and fell to the floor. Hawk grabbed him and pinned him down, and suddenly, he roared and dropped him, turning around to find an orange and black dragonet.

The white faded into reality, and Stardust saw the stalagmite coming upon him. Unable to comprehend quickly, he smacked into its side, and fell to the floor.

_How pathetic._ Hawk's thoughts echoed disdainfully. Stardust wondered if his vision's consequences were caused by the vision itself. For example, possibly because Stardust saw the vision he lost focus and hit the stalagmite.

Then again, it could just be because he was incompetent.

Hawk snaked through the stalagmites, and seized Stardust by his wings, and pulled him away. Stardust felt his limbs freezing up with terror, as it usually happened with battle training with Hawk.

Hawk yanked him out into the open, and his talons closed around his neck.

"_Gawp." _Stardust clawed at his grip, but it was relentless. He couldn't reach his fire, his claws were too busy trying to claw the grip, and his tail was feebly trying to bat at Hawk's underbelly.

_Another failure on the NightWing. Incompetent fool._

And just when Stardust was starting to doubt the vision, a roar battered his eardrums and Stardust suddenly hit the rocky floor with a thud. The rust colored dragon whirled around to find the HiveWing dragonet, Vespa, spitting out a red-gold scale. "Stop picking on Stardust."

Stardust wasn't too sure about his rescue. He was starting to think that he was now not the hero, but the fool who had to get rescued in the stories. By the hero, obviously. But he wasn't about to argue.

Vespa's stingers on her wrists and wings were retracting and extracting rapidly, when she was angry.

Hawk merely examined the bite mark. "Alright." He said dismissively. _Not that I haven't expected this. Incompetent dragonets, as always._ He snorted a small flame and swept away, and Stardust flopped onto the ground.

"You're going to be in so much trouble tomorrow."

Vespa merely shrugged her orange shoulders. "Wouldn't be too different. Get up. It's nearly time for dinner."

Stardust groaned. "I think my ribs are broken."

"They are not broken." Vespa poked his side. "Dragon bones are almost as hard as diamonds. Move. Besides, I hear dinner!" On cue, dismayed mooing echoed upon the tunnel.

Reluctantly, Stardust got to his feet, er, claws, and moved to the next cave. The underground cavern that Stardust called home was made up of six caves. The central cave, the guardians' cave to the left of it, the battle cave, which was behind the central one and connecting to the guardians cave and the central cave, the dining, which was more of a cave full of prey to have the dragonets practice hunting, the dragonets cave, and the library. A sliver of thought from Vespa caught his attention, and a second later:

"Are you tired of living here?" Vespa asked unexpectantly.

Stardust glanced curiously at her. "Not really. It's not the best, but it could be worse. Why?"

"Just thinking. ...do you think our family is alive?"

Ah. Parents. This subject came up every so often, as all the dragonets had no idea who they were. As for the question...Stardust didn't know. The guardians often brought news from the battle, dragons dying all the time, death, destruction, blood. It was just as likely that their parents and siblings had died. But then again, the NightWings weren't in the war.

"Do you think they care about us?"

"Definitely." Vespa said confidently. "I bet my parents were panicked when they discovered I wasn't in their hiding spot when Glory took me."

Stardust didn't say anything, but he did hear the doubt in her mind. She wasn't sure if her parents had abandoned her or hid her away from danger. Either one was possible, but Stardust didn't say his opinion. Amber, the MudWing dragonet, had no parents, of course, according to Asha, her mother had sold her off, and MudWings didn't have fathers. Though Asha was her aunt, and she had sibs, too.

And also, Stardust' own parents had hid his egg in the rainforest, for reasons unknown. Stardust had his own doubts about the reasons. Though he liked to imagine that they were panicked, and searched everywhere. He liked the idea that someone cared for him. But again, this reinforced his idea that he was instead, the incompetent fool that had to be rescued all the time.

Stardust passed by the central cave and looked passed the entrance to the guardian's cave, and the exit, which was blocked by a huge boulder. The boulder was a mechanism that could only be opened from the inside with a rock that Glory, the RainWing guardian had. While RainWings were often frowned upon due to their lazy nature, Glory had proven herself to be hardworking and determined, which earned her the title of guardian, which might not have been a reward, thinking of it.

Stardust speculated that there was a lever or sorts that opened the rock from the outside, as Mandrake and Glory often went to bring scrolls, resources, or prey to the caves. Torches lit the cavern, and Stardust thought of how drab and dreary their 'home' was. The only reason that Stardust had survived so long, dare he say, or the only upside to living here, were his friends.

**Done. Again, this chapter will not match up to the next ones until after I update them.**


	3. Morrowseer Has Come

**Some of you might be thinking..."wait, this is exactly like canon! Shouldn't it differ somehow?" And I'm sorry, the first few chapters will be the same here and there. This chapter is probably also very similar to canon, as well as the chapter after this one. But I promise that after that chapter, it will differ immensely. Alright, start the story!**

Stardust scampered into the prey area behind Vespa, while the other four dragonets where already there, snatching prey and tearing into meat (or fruit, for Glade). Stardust scanned the room with affection, he would do anything to help them. He took into comfort that he would be saving the world with these dragons.

Phoenix: The first born SkyWing, with firescales. He was a very good and talented fighter, and was an act first, think later dragon. He was quick tempered, but was calm and collected most of the time. His thoughts were hot and fiery, and in fact, were very hard to access, as it was all fire in there. Then again, he usually spoke his thoughts, so it wasn't much a problem.

Vespa: The third hatched, and had stinger powers in addition to a deadly acid that she could breath out. Her personality was very similar to Phoenix, but instead, she was energetic and loud, having loud thoughts, words, everything. She was a good fighter, too, and Stardust knew she would be a great destiny hero.

Amber: Fourth one hatched, with immunity to fire, as they discovered after she got her hands on some mud (a story for another day). She was very kind and humorous, gentle with warm thoughts, the opposite of Phoenix. Though oddly, they got together very well, to Stardust's surprise at first.

Glade: The fifth one to be born, a LeafWing with the odd power of leafspeak, which they only knew because he once accidentally made a flower spring up out of nowhere. Not that it helped, because the cave was...a cave. Anyway, Glade was a think first, act later, and was very smart, and Stardust knew from personal experience that his thoughts ran faster and more intelligently than any other dragon.

Diana: The smallest and last hatched dragonet, Diana the SilkWing had the power to shoot firesilk, and was very energetic. There was not a moment where she wasn't moving, and never a moment when she wasn't smiling. She was so enthusiastic about everything, especially the prophecy, that sometimes just hearing her thoughts was infectious.

Stardust snagged a mooing cow, snapped its neck, and dragged it toward the circle where his friends were eating. Together they just enjoyed their own company, talking to each other. Until a while, Vespa continued the thrilling conversation.

"Do you think our family cares about us?"

Stardust easily heard all their thoughts, ranging to _Definitely _to _Probably not..., _whether they would say it or not, it was pointless to hide.

Phoenix spoke first. "I'm sure my parents were panicked when Hawk stole my egg from the Sky Kingdom."

Amber added, "I'm sure my siblings looked desperately for me after Cattail sold me."

"Me too." Vespa agreed.

"They definitely were frantic about our disappearance." Diana assured.

"What if we went to find them? What if we left and escaped?" Vespa suddenly said.

Silence replaced the chatter. Stardust was shocked. The words came so fast that he barely had time to read her mind it before she said it. Everyone else was similarly surprised, and no one spoke for a good 10 seconds.

_You're kidding. _Phoenix thought.

Diana thought. _We have to follow the prophecy! It's not time yet..._

_How long has she been thinking about escape? _Amber wondered.

Glade's mind was rushing. _She obviously never was a fan of the caves, but I never thought it would escalate so fast. She must have be thinking of this for a while, or else she would never tell it to us, unless she was sure. She might have an escape plan already._

Stardust listened intently on Vespa's mind. She did have a plan, but she wasn't sure of it. And Stardust wholeheartedly...disagreed that they should leave. "But we have no idea how to leave. You know what the guardians say. There are plenty of dragons who would like to kill us before we even _try _to stop the war."

Diana nodded rapidly. "He's right. We have to follow the prophecy. There are still several months before we can leave."

All the others agreed. Glade broke in. "Besides, it's not guaranteed that our parents would even care. It's possible that my parents never wanted me."

Phoenix stopped him with a wave of his claw. "No way. Who would ever do that?"

"Yeah!" Amber chimed in. "You will find your family!"

Vespa nodded. "We all have families to return too."

Glade didn't say anything, but Stardust heard the doubt in his head. The LeafWing wanted to believe someone was out there, but it merely wasn't likely.

"Enough about escape, Vespa." Phoenix said in an authoritative voice. "Glory says we should study for at least an hour before sleeping. Get eating."

The dragonets finished their food and dumped the remains into the river. Stardust finished last, sweeping the bones of the cow into the river and watched the white shapes be whisked away by the current of the river. Stardust felt lucky that the guardian dragons couldn't read minds like NightWings. He couldn't stop thinking of escape all throughout dinner.

He quickly arrived at the study cave, where Glade was inspecting the map of Pyrrhia and Pantala. Vespa was strutting around the cave, barking orders. Phoenix was staying very carefully away from the bookshelf, even more so of the mishap a few years ago that caused their whole scroll archive the burn, a horror that Stardust would never forget...the smell of burnt paper...shudder. Stardust sat under the sky-hole with Diana and Amber, where the stars could be seen. This hole was usually the only glance of the outside world the dragonets could get. Stardust picked up a scroll about the Sand Kingdom and glanced at the map.

The map of Pyrrhia and Pantala was a huge, map, hanging on one of the walls. Vespa, Stardust, and Glade loved to study it and try to locate their cave home. They were pretty sure they were in the Sky Kingdom, and Stardust suspected they were under the Claws of Clouds Mountain, for SkyWings liked to be at the peaks of mountains, nobody would really care about the bottom.

Oh, and by the way, Stardust and Glade liked to study the map because of their obvious knowledge hoarding. Vespa also liked to study it, but for other reason. Escaping reasons, maybe? Who knows?

Diana groaned and thumped her head into the history scroll. "This history stuff is so confusing! Why can't the tribes just sit down and talk things out?"

"Would be nice." Phoenix agreed. "Then we don't have to study this anymore."

Diana giggled, and Vespa whirled toward them. "Stop talking! I'm assigning parts."

"That's not proper studying." Stardust protested. "Maybe I should read to everyone instead."

"Oh please, no." Amber protested. "maybe later, when I'm _trying _to fall asleep."

Stardust frowned. "It's very interestin-"

"Shush." Vespa started. "I'll be Queen Wasp, obviously, Diana, you'll be Queen Snowfall, Amber, you'll be Queen Oasis, Glade, you'll be Queen Hazel, Phoenix, you can be the asteroid that wipes out the stronghold."

Stardust blinked. "I have to be Princess Thorn again?"

_You're the smartest one. Deal with it. _Phoenix's words echoed his thoughts.

"Last time I had to play a queen too." Glade pointed out. "I'm not sure I like this game."

"This isn't a game," Vespa chided. "It's history. We're supposed to study anyway. Alright, actors, to your places, move, move, move."

Vespa set up a model that was supposed to be Queen Oasis' Stronghold and Amber and Stardust strolled around it.

_Stardust, you have to challenge Amber to the throne. _Stardust blinked. "Oh, right. Mother, I challenge you to the throne!"

Amber laughed scornfully. "You'll never win. But if you insist."

Stardust lunged at Amber. This was the most exciting part. According to history, Princess Thorn ascended to the throne and hid the treasure away, before the asteroid could hit. Because of this, the Eye of Onyx, the Lazulite Dragon, and the SandWing Scepter, all animus objects, were lost. Why? Well...you'll see.

Stardust feinted and rolled under Amber's wing. She lashed her tail at him and he dodged it, coming in hand-to-hand combat with the MudWing. Amber was quick and strong, able to prove in a good fight, and Stardust usually had fun fighting her.

But in the end, Thorn was supposed to kill Oasis, and so he did, stabbing his claws into the pocked between her wing and neck, and pretending it was fatal.

Amber groaned. "Oh, the blood! The pain! Bleh." Flopping down, she faked death. _That was fun._

Stardust sighed as he recited his lines. "I am now the Queen of SandWings. All the treasure is mine!" He stood above a pile of rocks, substitute for treasure, and ignored the teasing laughs and thoughts from the others. "Oh! What's that!?"

Phoenix descended from the air, oh-so slowly, with wreaths of smoke rising from his wings. _Hurry up. I can't fly this slowly forever. _Stardust nodded. "It's an asteroid! I must hide my treasure in case it falls."

Putting the rocks in an alcove, Phoenix crashed down onto the model of the fortress, obliterating it. Stardust fell. "Oh, the burns!" And died.

Diana rushed in. "Oh no! The heirs to the throne of the SandWings are dead! Who will be the new queen now!?"

"They could use the Eye of Onyx," Vespa suggested. "Oh wait, Queen Thorn hid it!"

"Well, then maybe the IceWings could rule over it instead!" Diana suggested.

_I still think that's not a great idea. _"Why should the IceWings rule over it? Maybe the HiveWings should rule over it! I already rule over all of Pantala! I can rule the Sand Kingdom too!"

Glade gave an aggravated sigh. "You don't rule over all of Pantala. The LeafWings are suffering in the Poison Jungle. We should rule the Sand Kingdom."

Diana stamped her foot. "No! The IceWings are the closest!"

"Oh yeah?" Vespa challenged. "I have an army of HiveWings AND SilkWings!"

Diana thought. "Well then, I'll get the SandWings to fight for me! The SandWings and IceWings were always in good favor. Most SandWings want me anyways." _Why can't the SandWings just choose for themselves then? _

It was true. Most SandWings wanted Queen Snowfall to become the ruler of Sand.

"Then I'll get the SkyWings to fight for me too!" Vespa added. _It does seem in favor of Wasp winning. She has a lot of allies._

Glade broke in. "Well, I will have an army of MudWings and SeaWings. Then we'll see-"

"ENOUGH!" Hawk's voice boomed through the halls, storming in the hall with Mandrake behind him. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?"

Diana shrank down. "We're sorry-"

"No we're not!" Vespa said, glaring at Hawk. "We were acting out the war's beginning. You told us to study."

"You're too old for play-acting." Hawk hissed.

Vespa bit her tongue, but her mind thought rebelliously, _When were we ever too **young **to playact?_

Mandrake stepped forward to calm Hawk. "Go to sleep, all of you." _I'll try to calm this grump down._

Hawk hissed. "I don't want to hear a single peep until morning."

The dragonets grumbled and wandered off to their sleeping caves. _It wasn't even an hour yet. _

_This sucks._

Vespa growled. "I can't stand this any longer. We have to get out of here, soon."

"Wait, that was serious?"

_We can't leave! We don't know how to survive outside!_

Stardust shifted uncomfortably. "I'm not sure we're ready. We have so much to learn."

Vespa growled. "That's just what the minders _want _us to think! We'll never know unless we get out of these horrible caves and see the world for ourselves.

"What about the prophecy?" Diana worried. "It's not time yet."

Phoenix shrugged. "I don't see why not. Destiny is destiny. No matter what we do, it'll come true, right?"

Glade broke in. "Guys, whatever happens, we stick together. We'll discuss this tomorrow. Right now we should go to sleep."

Vespa growled and stalked away to her sleeping spot. All was quiet for a while

But as the others listened, several talonsteps went forward, and they knew something was up. All of the guardians together was something not seen often. So Vespa dragged up Stardust. "Listen! Something's happening!"

Stardust stretched and got up. "Spy?"

Vespa nodded, and they broke off. Phoenix and Diana were not part of the spying, as they had no way to get close, but Stardust and Glade crept toward the guardian's cave, their dark colors fading into the shadows. In a moment, they were invisible, and they would get as close as possible. Vespa and Amber dove into the lake, and swam toward the guardian's cave. The river flowed through the cavern near it was never noticed. They would never guess that the dragonets were listening. But Stardust suspected that even if they were outside the whole cave system, they would still hear Hawk.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! HE'S COMING TOMORROW?! AFTER SIX YEARS?!" Hawk's voice boomed through the cavern. A jet a flame blasted a stalactite. _That turtle snapping pompous frog face. I thought he'd never return!_

"Maybe he wants to make sure they're ready to stop the war." Asha suggested optimistically. _The dragonets can probably hear us. Not that Hawk cares._

Hawk merely snorted. "The dragonets? He'll be disappointed." _They're barely able to fight for themselves._

Mandrake, who taught them history, said, "We've done our best, the prophecy chose the dragonets, not us." _To be honest, I'm not sure if _

Glory spoke. "I don't know why he cares. The message just said, "Morrowseer is coming." I'm supposed to meet him and bring him here."

Stardust withheld a gasp. _Morrowseer?!._ The NightWing that delivered the prophecy several years ago was coming?

Glory sighed. "I never thought Morrowseer would come look at them. After he delivered the prophecy, I never expected to show up. The NightWings aren't in the war.

"Did the Talons say what he wants?" Hawk asked.

Mandrake broke in. "Well, it's his prophecy. I guess he wants to make sure it'll come true."

But maybe Morrowseer was more important than Stardust realized. Perhaps he would take them out to the world. Perhaps they didn't need to escape after all.

* * *

To be honest, if he himself wasn't a mindreader and future-teller, he probably wouldn't have believed the myths. Superpowered dragons? An unknown kingdom? Pshaw.

But the next evening, a dragon as black as a void of nothingness scraped the ceiling of the cavern. Morrowseer was even bigger than Kestrel, and five times more terrifying. He had jagged bat wings, silver star scales like his own, but his glitter cast a cold glow.

Oddly, he did not have silver teardrop scales like Stardust on the sides of his eyes, but Morrowseer looked like he could easily rip of their heads. He also looked like he hated them already. Was he looking through the future and seeing failure?

Stardust felt Morrowseer's gaze wash over him, and he felt fear creep up to him, unstoppable. His limbs started freezing up, as terror filled his scales. He could feel Diana trembling slightly. He could feel Glade and Amber standing very still. He could hear their wary thoughts. Morrowseer didn't look like he was going to take them out to the world. He looked like he hated them.

Stardust was fairly sure Morrowseer couldn't read minds. Could a mindreader read other dragon's minds?

"We have six dragonets, as noted, Morrowseer."

Morrowseer glared down, and said something unexpected. "Something is wrong here."

Vespa took that chance to yell. "Yes! It has, we're treated like prisoners! We're supposed to be the most important dragonets in the world, but the guardians treat us like blind salamis!"

Stardust was shocked. Was she not scared of him? Her mind gave no fear away.

Glory snapped, "Vespa, hold your tongue." Her scales turned to orange.

"I will not!" She retorted, and turned to Morrowseer. "Please take us away with you!"

_Please DON'T. _After seeing Morrowseer the scary-face, he really preferred staying than going with him.

"Ungrateful lizard." Hawk growled.

A thought jabbed into Stardust's brain, so quick and fierce he barely had time to distinguish it. _Let's see if they can defend themselves. _Stardust's eyes widened as he realized was was going to happen.

Then suddenly, Morrowseer lunged, a growl like thunder escaping, teeth and claws like lightning, his scales like the starry sky, giving the effect of a thunderstorm in the sky dragged to the ground, collapsing on Vespa.

_Wow. It's like the sky is falling. _Stardust realized that Amber had lunged toward him, and tackled him with force. Vespa was given a respite, and she rolled and swiped at Morrowseer's snout, claws and stingers blending together. Morrowseer was defending both attacks quite easily. Stardust realized he should probably attack too. It was a test to see, and Stardust wanted to pass, but he was too scared to move.

Glade whirled to his feet, scanning a opening to attack, but didn't move. Morrowseer threw off Amber, and blocked a claw strike from Vespa. He inhaled, and a hissing noise sounded.

And then a flaming strand of silk wrapped around his snout, closing it. Behind Morrowseer was Diana, using his flamesilk to restrain the NightWing. Another strand wrapped around Morrowseer's neck, pulling him back. A quick burning of scales created an odd smell, and Morrowseer growled in pain. His tail flicked, and seeing his chance, Stardust latched on to the weak spot that all dragons had, on the tail.

"Interesting." He rumbled. _Looks like the NightWing does have guts after all._

Stardust blinked. _Thank you? _Terror seized him as Morrowseer's beady eyes glared down at him. Immediately, Stardust saw a vision. Phoenix coming out of nowhere and burnt Morrowseer to bits. He couldn't let that happen, no matter how dislikable the giant black dragon was.

Stardust shoved Morrowseer with all his might, surprising him, and he stumbled away. A moment later, Phoenix came crashing down on the place he was a second ago, flames curling off her scales, leaving blackened talon marks on the rock. _Why did Stardust save him!? He was trying to kill us!_

_Firescales. _Stardust held a claw out to Phoenix. "Phoenix, stop! It was a test."

Morrowseer stopped and stood straight. The guardians didn't move, oddly. They might have known it was a test. Mandrake, Glory, Asha, Hawk, none of them. Glade hadn't moved either, and Morrowseer apparently didn't like that. Stardust was worried.

"These will do." Morrowseer pointed at where Phoenix and Amber stood. Phoenix said nothing, but thought, _That was a test for a battling skills? How rude. _Whereas Amber was brimming with hostility and wariness, not something you see every day.

Hawk snorted.

"The SkyWing and LeafWing," Morrowseer gestured to Vespa, who was glaring at him, and Glade. "We'll see." _I don't like the HiveWing. Too violent and __disrespectful. Might need a change._ Ominous...

Morrowseer turned fully to Stardust. "And the NightWing is fine, of course. As for you, I assume you used your NightWing powers to figure out that I wasn't going to harm the HiveWing. No doubt you already know that I'm going to take you into the next cavern for a personal conversation."

Stardust nodded slightly, confirming this. The NightWing's face contorted slightly-was that, shock? _He can read minds? That's impossible-_A black wall slammed down his thoughts. Stardust walked with Morrowseer tot he next cavern, hearing Hawk yell at Vespa.

"Stupid HiveWing! Complaining to the first dragon you see! Trying to make us look bad! Whining about your life after all we've given you!"

The last thing he heard was Asha.

Asha sighed, "Come on." She said gently to the other guardians. "We need to talk."

The four guardians stalked away quietly.

Stardust warily followed Morrowseer. Morrowseer could see the futures, right? What did he mean mindreading was impossible? Stardust could see the future too, but they were mostly visions. He could in fact, look into tons and tons of futures to see all the outcomes of everything. He didn't like to do it though, because it was disorienting and caused major headaches. He only did it once to check if they would succeed, and they were several outcomes where they did, but also outcomes where they died before it happened. Would this be one?

* * *

Stardust walked back into the library cave, still shuddering from the talk with Morrowseer. Immediately his friends mobbed him, asking questions, pummeling him with thoughts and words.

Stardust frowned. "I'm not supposed to talk about it." He walked toward the library, grabbing his favorite scroll, and pretended to read. He could hear their confused thoughts further away, and wished he could block them out. He still didn't know what Morrowseer meant about his powers being impossible. He had a theory...but no. _That's _impossible. Hearing Amber's thoughts, he knew she was coming.

"Did he say anything about us? Morrowseer, I mean." Phoenix sat next to him. _Anything worrying? Anything potentially dangerous?_

Stardust just frowned. "Not much. He just berated me on the prophecy and leadership and other stuff."

_Was that it? _Phoenix was skeptical, that was for sure.

"Well, he did say something about Vespa. But his mind..."

"What is it?" _Is it something bad? Was he not happy with her attitude? I was definitely surprised by it._

"He said, 'Your HiveWing friend is very ambitious..." Stardust hesitated. He wasn't supposed to say this, but if his visions were correct, they all needed to know this. "His mind thought, 'we need to change up that HiveWing. She's too much of a threat."

Phoenix paled. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing good."

As if answering their anxiety, Amber's wary voice echoed throughout the halls. "What's that for?" The heavy tread of dragon footsteps along with an ominous clanking reached their ears.

"Stop! You don't have to do that!" Diana cried.

Stardust stepped upright. "NO!" His vision was correct. He had to get there!

Phoenix stood too. _Are those..chains?!_

They rushed to the dragonets cave, but it was too late.

Mandrake, and Asha were absent, but Hawk and Glory each held a length of an iron chain between their talons. A sound of scuffling sounded from the dragonet's sleeping cave, and as the two dragonets burst into the cavern, Hawk was dragging Vespa toward the wall. Behind them, at the entrance to the prey cave, Morrowseer, held back Diana and Glade as they tried to climb over him. Glory blocked Amber from getting to them, and Vespa hissed and fought, writhing in fury. _What is the meaning of this?!_ Hawk threw her against the wall, and in one moment, they both hurled the chains at her, looping around, wrapping around her wrists, wings, ankles, and necks. Stardust watched helplessly, frozen, forgetting to move, as Hawk blasted the metal with fire, melding them together into the rock wall.

Vespa, probably the best fighter in the group, were trapped.

It all happened so fast. Stardust had frozen, and couldn't stop it, and it was too late. He let out a yell of dismay and charged, grabbing the chains but immediately retracts it, talons burning. Phoenix glared at the guardians, thinking, _Those dirty guardians. I never thought they stoop this low..._

"Maybe this would teach you a lesson," Hawk snarled at Vespa, who had a look of outrage.

"Why are you doing this?" Phoenix demanded. _More like, what the Pyhrria is wrong with you?_

"Yeah!" Diana added, "If anyone's saving the world, it's her!"

"Actually, tiny RainWing," Morrowseer rumbled, "the dragonet you should believe is Stardust. NightWing are natural leaders."

The dragonets glanced at him instinctively. Stardust didn't particularly feel ready for leading. The dragonets were also just as skeptical, except for Diana. Great.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Make sure everything has been dealt with." Morrowseer rumbled. _I'll find the other HiveWing. The Talons would come through. _Ugh.

And then he left, NightWing gone. Stardust could hear the boulder moving as he left.

Glory stepped forward toward the trapped dragonet. "This is for your own good," Vespa swiped viscously at him, and she stepped back. "We only want to keep you safe."

"You were all awful today. Go to bed, and I don't want to hear a squawk out of anyone. Or else I'll chain up more of your friends."

The guardians stalked off, leaving the dragonets alone. As soon as they were gone, the unchained dragonets tried to pry of the chains, to no avail. Phoenix avoided touching them, or else the chains might heat up and burn her to death.

"Guys, stop." Vespa whispered. "You know what you have to do. " _Spy on them, they have a plan. Something sinister._

Amber agreed. "She's right. For the first time, spying on the guardians is actually very important."

Glade caught on. "Something's going on there. We need to know."

"Go, move it!" Phoenix ordered.

Stardust and Glade ran past the caverns and arrived near the guardian's, hiding in the shadows behind alcoves. Amber was in the water, and Stardust could just spot her shape.

_Stardust, look. They're not shouting like last time. They're whispering. Something is definitely up._

Glory growled. "When will he be back?" _When do we have to get this over with._

"Midday tomorrow." Mandrake answered. Sounding as if he was grieving. "It has to be done then. He doesn't want to see her again." _Poor Vespa. Not it._

Oh no. They weren't possibly..what?!

"Well, I'm not doing it." Glory said. _I won't argue with Morrowseer, but I'm not doing this deed._

"Neither am I." Mandrake added. _I joined the Talons to stop killing dragons._

Asha sighed, covering her head with her talons. "Do we really have to do this? Don't we need six dragonets?" _Is this really necessary?_

Hawk shook he head. "Asha, it's pitiful, but Vespa will ruin the prophecy. She's too hotheaded. She's the anti-peace. It just won't work. Morrowseer will find us a HiveWing. We have to get rid of her." _A simple snapping of the neck should do it. Maybe drowning..._

Stardust's face shredded with horror. He knew 'getting rid of' was the same thing as 'break his neck quickly'. Glade's face was horrified. _They wouldn't. Why? Those..what?!_

The guardians went quiet. "So, how and when." Hawk said in his no-nonsense military voice.

Asha was still looking devastated, but didn't argue. Stardust really had hoped she would. But she was too afraid.

"So who'll do it?" Glory asked.

"I will." Hawk volunteered. "I'm literally, the only one who would do it, anyways." _Spineless dragons._

"Glory and I will make sure none of the dragonets awake." Mandrake sighed. "Especially Phoenix. Midnight."

Hawk nodded. _They can't stop me, especially without Vespa and Phoenix._

_I've heard enough. I'm out. _Glade turned away and rushed to the cavern, with Stardust not far behind.

* * *

"They wouldn't." Diana paced anxiously around the cave. "They wouldn't."

Vespa sighed. "They certainly would. The guardians would do anything to fulfill the prophecy."

"Maybe if we tried talking to them?" Diana hesitated. "Would they change their minds-?"

"Not going to happen." Glade interrupted, his tail lashing around angrily. "The conversation we heard was them making up their minds. They won't change it."

"Besides." Stardust added. "I've heard their thoughts. Most of them don't actually want to do it, but they won't argue with Morrowseer."

Diana sighed and relented.

Vespa interrupted. "The question is, how will you stop them? You're no match for Hawk, and I can't to anything." She snapped at her chains, annoyed.

"So we escape." Stardust answered. "We get out and escape, tonight, right now. We have to."

Amber pointed out, "If escape were that easy, we have done it already." She gestured with his head to the boulder that blocked the main entrance. "This is the only way out."

Glade nodded."He's right. Glory has a stone that fits into the slot." He tapped a groove in the wall. "He unlocks something so that they can roll the boulder away."

"And when the others return from the outside," Phoenix realized, catching on, "There has to be a switch they use to open it."

Vespa blinked. _I never thought twice about that weird rock Glory always had._

"So we steal Dune's rock?" Diana suggested.

Glade shook his head. "Not going to work." _They're too much in adrenaline._

"They'll catch us for sure." Stardust explained. "Especially since they're on high alert because of Morrowseer."

Diana sighed and bowed her head.

"What about the sky hole?" Amber suggested. "Maybe one of us could get out, and free each other from the outside with the switch? It's small, but what about Kinkajou? Could she maybe squeeze out?"

Diana pranced up. "I could! Could I?" _Could I be useful? Could I help?_

Glade lashed in frustration. "It won't work. It's smaller than you think. I can barely fit my head through it. It's not a way out."

"The minders wouldn't have left it there if we could." Stardust agreed.

Stardust thought about it. He glanced at Vespa, who was looking as if she had an idea but wasn't sure if she could say it or not. _What if...what if we could escape through the river? No, no. It's too dangerous. _He followed her sideways glance to the river. Glade spotted it first

"You have an idea." Glade said to Vespa. "The river. It goes along to the battle cave and then to the guardians, then it must have a way out. Right?"

Stardust thought about it. "Well, if there's a current, it should lead to the outside."

Amber frowned. "But how would you find us when you go out?"

Stardust knew. "The sky hole. Make a fire, I'll follow the smoke back to here. I'll then release you guys."

"Wait." Phoenix put in. "You won't be able to see smoke until daylight. And Hawk and Mandrake will be here by then."

Glade nodded. "You won't get back in time. Not before Hawk comes for Vespa."

"We have to get her out, now." Amber said. _If we get her out, she can escape. We all have to get out anyways, and if we don't they'll probably kill her faster and probably more effective._

Stardust thought. Scanning everyone's mind, he had an idea. "Use Glade's idea. If fire melded the chains together, maybe it would break it apart. Then Vespa and Amber could go for the river."

"Alright. Stardust, Amber." Phoenix commanded. _Do it. Quickly. It's already near midnight._

Stardust brought up flames in his mouth, and along with Amber, breathed a stream of red-hot flames at the chain link. The flames hit the metal like hammers on nails, and started to melt away.

_It's not working. _Diana thought anxiously.

_Will this actually work? _Glade wondered. _It was merely a hypothesis._

Stardust could sense the chain links weakening, but they needed more. "Phoenix! Join us." _Alright. _The SkyWing added his own super-hot flames to the inferno, and the chains split immediately, freeing Vespa. She leapt out. _Oh, thank the moons. I was getting cramped. _Stretching her limbs and wings, she nodded to Amber.

"Let's go." _While we still can._

Stardust grimaced. "I wish we had a better plan. This one's risky."

Glade nodded. _I bet we could come up with more plans if we had time._

"We don't have time." Stardust put in. "That's the problem. Vespa, Amber follow the current. Stop and rest anytime you find a place to breathe, and don't panic."

Phoenix nodded. "She's right. Never panic. Or else you might start to lose breath quicker."

"ARGGH." Diana growled (rather cutely). "I wish I could do something."

"Shush." Glade sent them off. "Bye. See you later."

"Allright." Amber jumped into the water and disappeared. Vespa went to the riverbank, and spared one last look at his friends.

"We'll be back." _Don't worry._

**Yipee! Another chapter done. Just one more to update and then it'll all match up.**


	4. Outside the Caves

**I feel like I should explain a few things first. About the war, the RainWings pulled out of it after a while, because the current queen was a douchebag. The NightWings also pulled out around the same time, for unknown reasons... And about territory in Pantala, The LeafWings live in the 'head' of Pantala, and the HiveWings and SilkWing are in one tribe. Also, in case anyone is wondering, Asha did tell the guardians and dragonets about the 'BigWings trying to get all the other eggs hatched deal'. Alright, in this chapter, I answer the all-wondered question: what happened during Clay's epic river adventure? How did Kestrel react? **

**Stardust's POV**

The night seemed to pass impossibly slowly as the 4 dragonets waited for the inevitable arrival of Hawk, and his anger when he realized Vespa and Amber were gone. None of the dragonets dared to sleep, keeping quiet in the darkness as they waited and waited. It gradually got darker, and in one puff, the torches went out. The guardians obviously wanted to do their dirty work in the middle of the night. Stardust hurried around in the library, keeping his mind open to when the guardians would stomp in. He was collecting scrolls in a large pouch for the library, BECAUSE SCROLLS ARE IMPORTANT.

Glade walked in, followed by Diana. _Do you really need that many scrolls._

"Well, what if I forget something?" Stardust retorted. "Besides, I'm not not taking no scrolls to our 'adventure'."

Glade rolled his eyes. _You never forget anything. _

"Why don't you split the scrolls into several pouches? That way we could each carry some." Diana suggested. _Come on, Stardust. We can help, if you really want to bring so many scrolls._

_Get four more. Phoenix can't wear one, anyways. _Glade mused.

Stardust admitted it was a good idea, and proceeded to look for more pouches. Sticking several more scrolls in the four pouches, he carried the most abundant one, and handed two others to Diana and Glade. "The last one is for Amber."

_I knew that. What time is it? _Diana thought. Stardust glanced up to the sky-hole. The moon was near right above them. It was nearly midnight. Hawk, Glory, and Mandrake would come soon. Stardust glanced at the remains of the chains nearby. The guardians must have chained Vespa there so they wouldn't need to kill her so near the other dragonets.

Stardust nodded to Diana and Glade, and they all headed back to the sleeping cave. Phoenix was already there, waiting. "Hawk will be here soon. Be ready."

They pretended to look asleep as they waited. Several moments later, they heard footsteps. Mandrake and Hawk. They saw two shadows creep around in the library. Stardust could hear Mandrake's curious wonderment and Hawk's outraged thoughts. He could hear Glory's too, and he suspected she was camouflaged.

After a while, he heard them whispering in hushed tones. They were coming here. A burst of fire lit up the room, and Hawk shook Stardust awake. _How did you get them out, you clever little NightWing. _"Where are they." He snapped. The others (pretended) to wake up too.

_They suspect we got them out somehow. Well __obviously we would._

Glade yawned. "Who?" Hawk glared his way. _Amber's not here either._

"The other dragonets. Where. Are. They." His voice became more and more sinister and furious. _Tell me._

"Why would you want to know?" Phoenix challenged.

Hawk hissed at him. "None of your concern." _If you must know, we're trying to find and kill your troublesome friend. I know you were listening._

Stardust sucked in a breath. How? "How is that not of our concern?" Stardust said.

"Yeah!" Diana agreed angrily. "Vespa's our friend! We're not going to let you kill her!"

Glade nodded. "Besides, we don't know." _Technically true. They could be anywhere by now._

Stardust could still hear Mandrake and Glory's mind elsewhere. They were searching for the missing dragonets.

Hawk glared at all of them, and was thinking of possibly to teach them a lesson (aka breath fire all over them) when Mandrake came in and whispered in Hawk's ear. _Leave them be. They won't give us their location anyway. Let's go out and find them quickly. _

Mandrake was also slightly relieved that they didn't have to kill Vespa. Hawk snarled, and left. A minute later they heard the boulder door open and talons step outside. The dragonets quickly got up.

"They're all gone or asleep. Let's go start the fire and wait for them at the boulder."

They all rushed toward the library. But a lingering thought stuck in their heads. _Are we sure Vespa and Amber can find a way to open the door? _Diana and Glade piled several scrolls below the sky-hole, and Phoenix lighted it up with a slightest touch. Stardust winced at the sound of burning paper.

_Come on, Vespa. See the signal._

"Let's go wait for them at the boulder." Glade suggested. _We need to be ready to leave as soon as possible._

Stardust wasn't too sure of this, as Hawk and Mandrake might come back first, but the dragonets were already heading over. A surprisingly short time, the boulder started rolling, and Stardust heard Amber's thoughts. _Stardust! We're back. Tell the others!_

Stardust complied, calling, "They're back!"

Phoenix nodded. "I'll go smother the flame."

The door opened, and a hunched over shape burst through. "You're back!"

"You're all right." Glade said to Vespa in relief. "What about our chained friends?"

"Oh yeah!" Diana said energetically. "So, Moon had this idea that if the chains were bound by fire, they could be unbound by fire too!"

"Hawk was pretty mad, though." Glade appeared from the entrance. "But Mandrake calmed him down. Hawk's out there looking for you."

Vespa came into view. "We should go now." She spotted Stardust. _Are those scrolls? _"Why do you need so many scrolls, Stardust? You know everything anyways."

Stardust ignored her. "I have the pouch with scrolls about the tribes, Diana has story scrolls, Glade has scrolls about foods safe to eat and stuff like that, and the last pouch," He handed it to Amber. "Has scrolls with geography and maps."

"Hawk went out looking for you guys." Diana explained. "Let's go before the rest of the guardians wake up."

"And before they come back." Glade murmured. _Which wouldn't be long._

Stardust gasped. A flash of light blinded his eyeballs, and he saw a troop of orange and red dragons descend out of nowhere, attack them, and...oh no. Was that?! His vision faded.

"Get away!" Stardust pushed toward the entrance. "Get back! Close the door, now!"

_...Nani?_

Vespa looked at her like she was speaking another language. "What are you talking about, Stardust?"

"I think he's talking about us." A hot, angry voice sounded out.

The dragonets whirled and there stood a dozen SkyWings, all angry and puffing smoke. Including the two from earlier. Stardust was horrified. _Once again, my visions were too late. Or more like I wasn't able to do anything about it._

Glade widened his eyes. _SkyWings?! But how?_

Amber looked flabbergasted. "You followed us here." _The two SkyWings we met followed us? _

_They must have followed the smoke. _Vespa grimly thought. _I forgot about that._

Stardust saw how the smoke must have inevitably let their position be revealed. He hadn't even thought about that.

The SkyWing guard shrugged. "Well, not immediately."

"They came to tell me first." A new voice said, and a female dragon stepped forward, orange scales glinting, red eyes burning with malice.

Vespa glared at the female SkyWing. "Who are you?" _And why is she commanding the SkyWings? Who is she?_

"You don't recognize me? I'm offended, really." _How rude. In my own kingdom nevertheless._

_What does she mean by that? _Diana thought curiously.

Stardust pulled Vespa back. "Vespa, don't-" _That's-_

"My name is Scarlet. But you might want to call me your Majesty if you want to live."

Glade stepped back. "That's Queen Scarlet. Ruler of the SkyWings." _Wow, we have bad luck, don't we._

"Besides." The Queen added. "Someone left me a very convenient trail of smoke to follow."

Amber gasped. _Of course._

_"_Oh my goodness!" Scarlet exclaimed. "You're a NightWing!" Scarlet bundled toward Stardust, who had just enough time to think, _welp, sh- _when she grabbed his face. _Well, well, well, I didn't know they let their dragonets out so young. He doesn't look ten years old._ To Stardust's dismay, the rest of his friends were guarded too. Except one...

"A NightWing not ten years old? They don't normally let their dragonets out to the world." Scarlet inspected Stardust like a cow she was about to eat. Stardust was petrified. He knew what she was preparing to do to him. And he didn't like it. "I never had a NightWing in my arena before!"

He didn't want to fight for her. Heck, he would probably die anyways.

"Can you tell what I'm thinking?"

Stardust, still terrified, slowly said, "You're wondering why a number of dragons are hiding under your mountain, and you're also thinking of sending us to fight in the arena."

"Correct!" Scarlet answered delightedly. "So you can read minds! And of my first question, this doesn't have anything to do with a certain prophecy, would it?"

Mandrake chose that exact moment to arrive. "What's going on."

Then they saw the SkyWing queen and froze. "Asha!" Mandrake yelled and hurtled toward Scarlet.

"Mandrake, wait!" Glade shouted, but too late, as Mandrake tackled Scarlet, pinning her to the ground.

Scarlet flipped him off and snarled at him. "Get your claws off me, LeafWing." _You'll die for this._

Asha came barreling in, just as the remaining SkyWing soldiers ran toward them. Without hesitation, she leaped into battle, raking underbellies, tail whacking, and Stardust realized he had never seen the guardians fight before. It was terrifying. Asha, the kindest and most sweet of the guardians, was a powerhouse. She certainly didn't think about it much.

"We can help!" Stardust called to his friends. They tried to fight off their captors, but they were full grown and unrelenting.

Mandrake smashed into a stalagmite. Scarlet was smaller but strong. "They're the dragonets of destiny! You can't have them!" Scarlet lunged, but Mandrake caused a thorn bush to grow underneath her, causing her to back away quickly.

Scarlet smirked. "I don't care about destiny or prophecies. Besides, they made be awfully mad, but I always find the ones who betray me in the end." She pinned Mandrake to the wall."Right, Hawk?"

Said SkyWing launched into the room, knocking over half a dozen SkyWings, and slid into the cave. "You got me now. Let these dragonets go."

Stardust would have never guessed that Hawk would give himself to save them. Maybe he really did care about them. Judging by his thoughts, probably not. He just cared about what they were going to do, aka stop the war.

"You want me to give up prizes like this? Oh no." Scarlet turned to her soldiers. "Take them all. Except this one of course."

She lifted Mandrake, flopping like a fish. "A LeafWing with leafspeak? Too dangerous. I killed hundreds of LeafWings. Ah, what's one more."

"No!" Diana leaped for them, but too late, Scarlet snapped Mandrake's neck and dropped his corpse on the floor. "Mandrake, wake up!" _Don't die!_

The rest of the dragonets crowded around the fallen dragon. Despite how the guardians treated them, the poor dragonets were shocked and saddened by his death. Stardust had a horrible feeling that it was his fault.

Hawk lunged and ripped off the SkyWing soldier fighting Asha. "Tell the Talons."

Without a word, she nodded, and the guardian disappeared down the water. Stardust wanted badly to follow them, but only a fair few of the dragonets could swim, not including him, and even fewer could survive the waterfall. He had to stay.

Scarlet wiped the blood off her claws. "The Talons of Peace? I hope they try storming to the palace to save you. That would be fun." _Then I can kill them, put them in my arena, and end the whining group once and for all._

Glade nudged Stardust. "Look!" she pointed up. _It's Morrowseer! Maybe he'll save us!_

A black shape circled overhead and flew away. It was indeed Morrowseer.

Vespa hissed. "What's that blasted NightWing doing?"

"I'm not surprised," Stardust answered darkly. "The NightWings never got their claws dirty. They stay out of fighting."

Just then, an all too familiar SkyWing with blue eyes strolled in. "Hey, guys! Turns out smothering flames with firescales isn't easy. What I miss-oh."

Phoenix flew in and punched a SkyWing before he could reach his friends. The poor dragon flailed and screamed as his scales sizzled and burnt as he rushed off toward the river.

"Stay away!" Phoenix yelled. _Or i'll set fire to every one of you, STARTING WITH YOUR EYEBALLS._

Scarlet forced Hawk off her. "Oooh, firescales! Is this Vermillion's son that _you _stole, Hawk?"

"Let us go, Scarlet." Phoenix snarled, keeping the other SkyWing soldiers at bay.

"That's _Queen _Scarlet to you, SkyWing," Scarlet responded, miffed. "And no, I don't think I will. Make me." _Even your firescales can't save them all at once._

Phoenix threw herself in front of the queen, talons an inch away from her face. "Call off your guards."

Scarlet merely smirked. "No, I don't think I will. I have your 'friends', and as I much would like an exciting trial or arena fight, I can execute them right here and now. If you kill me, I will kill everyone in this room. You can threaten me as much you like, but that doesn't change that fact."

Phoenix hesitated. _She's right. I can't save them before they sink their claws in my friends throats. I need to find a way to rescue them later._

Everydragon else stopped fighting as well. Eventually, Phoenix was forced to recede, and the SkyWings put them all in chains, those of which were grappling the dragons in fury (cough, Vespa, cough). The other dragonets merely wisely stayed silent.

"Let me go you ignoramus hippo-blobs!" Vespa growled. To no avail, of course. Eventually, Stardust stomped on her tail for her to stop. There was no use struggling. He had to admit that Scarlet was cunning.

Scarlet scanned the room. _There should be more guardians..._She then ordered the others to search the other caverns. "Bring them here." Nobody was found, and Stardust wondered where Glory was. Hawk was the only guardian still there.

After a while, the SkyWings dragged their prisoners, up, up, up, toward the dungeons of the Sky Palace, toward the kingdom of Scarlet, and toward certain...well, not exactly doom, but pretty darn close. Phoenix flew slightly behind everyone else, thinking pretty vivid flaming thoughts.

Hawk looked behind him and for a moment, he saw a change in color on one of the walls. A dragonlike figure, with shifting colors. But before he could get a closer look, the SkyWing yanked on his chain and pulled him away.

**Sorry about the wait, again. And so, here's where the point of view shifts toward Phoenix.**


	5. Author's Note

**If you're reading this after March 3rd, 2020, skip this chapter. It doesn't really matter. If you are reading it before...go ahead! Well, i guess you could read it anyways. If you do, this is the reason the reviews don't match up with the story.**

**So, this isn't an update. Unfortunately, I just found too many flaws with it that I can't fill in, being an unexperienced writer. First of all, it's too hard to include everydragon in the story. With ten dragonets, plus several guardians, I can't find enough word time for each of them. They're too static, and the story just kind of...flops. Second, due to not planning this story through much, I have absolutely no idea where to go now. And lastly, I can't find a way to introduce new characters, supporting ones, with, as I mentioned earlier, too many protagonists. **

**I will rewrite it instead, making it better and different but still having the same gist. There won't be as much dragonets, and I decided instead to make them OCs. That story will be more.., complicated. It still be the same story link, it's just I will replace the chapters with a few...changes. It's really still the same, but it should be done by March. I suggest you read the first chapters again, because it will be different.**

**To new readers, yes, I changed the story after about a few months starting it. So if in the next few days, the chapters are not synchronized...sorry.**

**Ianoliano**


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